Sticky Grips

Lately I have the problem of the grips being sticky and I do not know why. Does anybody know why this is happening?

something is attacking the rubber, perhaps the cleaning soap that you use, as far as i know this is nor reversable and once the rubber starts to breack down replacement or covering them is the only solution, if they are becoming sticky there is a chance that you will soon start to expose the heating element?

Oh sucks. I will be on the look out for that. I use the normal car wash soap when cleaning the bike, hope it is not that.

Thx anyway Martin, will check the grips.

Hmmm... I've noticed a residue on my grips too, but it comes off when I scratch it lightly. I recon it's gunk on your gloves & grips that settles in the grooves of the grips. So maybe throw your gloves in the wash now and again...

Marnus wrote:Hmmm... I've noticed a residue on my grips too, but it comes off when I scratch it lightly. I recon it's gunk on your gloves & grips that settles in the grooves of the grips. So maybe throw your gloves in the wash now and again...

Maybe you should just wash your hands after eating!

DaveS wrote:

Marnus wrote:Hmmm... I've noticed a residue on my grips too, but it comes off when I scratch it lightly. I recon it's gunk on your gloves & grips that settles in the grooves of the grips. So maybe throw your gloves in the wash now and again...

Maybe you should just wash your hands after eating!

HAHAHA Dave... I thought the subject said "Sticky GRIPS"... not "Sticky RIBS"!!!

Mine are doing the same. Have replaced a year-and-a-halve old grip after my heating element was exposed, which to me is a bit of a short life expectancy for a grip…

I think the grips are made of a very soft compound rubber (don’t know why) and this, together with the constant vibration of the bike, causes the grips to chafe/abrade (don’t really know what the right word here would be). Then, with you grabbing onto the grips with leather gloves that are much tougher than the rubber on the grips, the chafed particles have nowhere to go. These particles then get infused again with the grip rubber in an even softer (putty-like) compound. Don’t know if this makes sense, but that’s the answer my brain came up with!

If you have imitation leather gloves, you know the suede-like ones? That makes it even worse… My opinion is that you need a harder (almost plastic-like) rubber grip. I know the softer compound rubber gives you better grip, but is this really necessary? I think you can grab onto a harder compound grip just as well… Next time I will be getting cheapies to see if they don’t work better than original grips.

Never thought of it this way, but it sounds logic to me. It could also be like Martin said, the soap that I am using to was the bike with.

Anyway I will have an eye on the rubber to see that it do not expose the heating element.

Thanks guys, very nice to get all this usefull feedback.